Wouter Charle Manager, Hyperspectral Imaging Technology imec (Belgium)

In image-guided surgery, the surgeon uses tracked surgical instruments together with preoperative or intraoperative images to guide the – minimally invasive – surgery. Hyperspectral images could soon take their place in this field, giving the surgeon real-time information on tissue chemical composition at the molecular level, and increasing the level of precision and efficiency of surgeries.

Imec’s snapshot hyperspectral sensor and camera are ideally suited for use in minimally invasive surgeries (e.g. with laparoscopy, surgical robots) because of its compactness and video-rate capabilities. The lack of high resolution can be circumvented by combining the sensor with a 3D HR sensor and/or by restricting the number of spectral bands. The imec sensor consists of interference-based optical filters on top of image sensor pixels. All is made using CMOS-based infrastructure and process technology, ensuring it to be a cost-effective and mass-producible solution. The imec solution has already been used in surgical feasibility studies and has been recognized as ‘the only available video-rate capable multispectral sensor.' It has e.g. been used for the reliable discrimination of critical tissue during spinal fusion surgery in patients and for perfusion assessment in colorectal anastomoses in a porcine model.

In this presentation we will present the technology and unique capabilities of the imec hyperspectral sensors, specifically for the use case of minimally invasive surgeries. imec is looking for medical device companies and integration companies that want to use this hyperspectral technology to make next-gen surgical tools.

Wouter Charle is the manager for hyperspectral imaging technology and leads the off-the-shelf and evaluation system activities at imec. With his background in physics, software engineering, and 3D machine vision, he joined imec in 2014 to help explore the business opportunities of hyperspectral imaging.